So yesterday Gabi and I headed down to Olympic Stadium for another concert, the G20 Asia Song Festival Concert! ( I know, what a mouth full huh?) This concert was being put on by the G20 summit this year and guess what?? It was completely FREE!! That’s right… I said FREE. So keep that in mind for the rest of the entry! Lol.
So the day started out with LOTS of lines.
Because the concert was free, you had to go to the Asia song festival website beforehand and get an exchange coupon for a free ticket. So we got there really early in the morning so that we could wait in line to make sure we got one of the real tickets.
Now, who ever organized this concert should really be fired. Not only were there NO ropes, to keep lines in place, there were only 4 “guards” to keep people in control and there was NO since of timeliness. The website and coupon both said that tickets would be given out starting at noon. However, they did not start giving out tickets until 1pm and people were constantly jumping into lines, letting their 20 friends get in line with them, etc. Thus the need for ropes and guards. Lol.
Then, once they started to give out tickets, all hell broke loose. There was only one line for foreigners (which was the majority of the first half of the line) so we had to start a new line and then there was no rhyme or reason so people just started pushing forward and throwing themselves up towards the ticket booth to get their ticket! Ugh. But we made it up there and got our tickets. Gabi and I are pretty good at pushing our way through a crowd.
Now, on the website they advertised a free CD, glow stick and fleece blanket with a dollar donation to UNICEF. However, rather than having everything set up and ready to go so that after people got their tickets they could go and get their free stuff, they made us wait in yet another line. They hadn’t even brought the stuff in! we had to wait for over an hour and a half before they started handing out the free items and then when that line started to move, it was déjà vu all over again. People jumped the line, people pushed and there was no crowd control. But hey, we got it! Lol.
So after almost 5 hours of waiting in lines, Gabi and I were STARVING! We headed over to the baseball stadium and got some chicken strips at burger king. I swear, they may be the best chicken strips I have ever tasted from the two times I have gotten them. Or, it may just be that the two times I’ve eaten there I had been starving to death beforehand.
Anyways, after eating and chilling out for a while, we headed back to the stadium and had to wait in another line to get into our section. Imagine a thousand people trying to squeeze through a double door entry and two Korean guys with megaphones trying to control the crowd… yeah…. Not the smartest or safest thing ever! In fact, that is how a lot of people get killed at concerts. Come on now people, crowd control is key in safety but apparently the G20 concert commity disagrees.
Once we got into the stadium it turned out they gave too many tickets for our section and there weren’t any seats left. So we got to move to another section and had even better seats than we would have had if we were in the original section. YAY!
Now I know it seems like I have been doing a lot of complaining about this but seeing how it was all free, I can’t really complain too much. My main concern through the whole thing was safety and well, the fact that someone just had their head way up their ass when they did the planning. But when we got into the stadium and finally got our seats, none of that really seemed to matter anymore.
We had about three hours to kill between when we got into the stadium and when the concert started but we found ways to amuse ourselves.
Finally, at 6pm the concert started!
The concert started with a bunch of groups that were actually a surprise because they hadn’t been listed on the program or the website. YAY!
First was the group Nine Muses singing “Ladies”. Although they only sang one song, they were very good and I think they got the crowds in good spirits!
After Nine Muses came Rainbow! They too were very good and they sang their newest song "Mach".
Next up was E. via. She is a Korean rapper and is known as the “outsider” I guess? But she’s still very perky and bubbly and I really liked her music. She did two songs but the better of the two was “Pick You Up”
Then came Teen Top singing “Clap”. I actually like their song, but I have issues with Teen Top seeing how their all like 15 years old… lol. That’s like saying I really enjoy Justin Beiber’s music. It just makes me sound like a creeper.
After Teen Top there was an introduction to the concert.
Then where was a presentation of all the 20 nation’s flags. I felt that this was really cool and interesting. I know it was the G20 concert but I think this presentation made the whole thing seem more special in a way. Then it was time for the party to get started!
First up was 4minute (Korea) performing “I My Me My” “Hot Issue” and “Huh.” They were very good and somewhat of a surprise. I didn’t really like 4minute when they first debuted. Partially because they looked like 2ne1 wanna be’s and secondly because “Hot Issue” wasn’t the best song ever. However, since their debut they have changed their look and their newer songs, such as “I My Me My” and “Huh” are both awesome! I’m a born again 4minute fan I guess.
After 4minute was Bie the star. Now Bie is from Thailand and he is considered the Rain of Thailand… I don’t know if they call him that because of his popularity level in his own country but I can definitely say it is not because their skill levels are similar. Now don’t get me wrong, Bie did an excellent job! He was fun and lively but he just wasn’t on the same playing field as Rain. Still, he sang two songs, one being up beat and one being a ballad.
After Bie came 2AM (Korea). I know Gabi was super excited to hear them! I’m not usually a fan because they only sing ballads but still, they did sing the two ballads that I liked, “Even if I die” and “I did wrong”, so I was happy! And they sounded really good which is always a good thing!
After 2AM was Jane Zhang from China. Man was she good! She has a great set of vocal cords! She sang a song called “I believe” in Chinese but she also sang a song in English. The only thing about her is, I could never see her alone in concert or buy a CD because she sings ballads. Just not my style. But hey, I was totally impressed with her abilities!
Then came Joe Cheng!!!! I was SO excited to get to see him in person! Joe is from Taiwan and I have seen him in many Taiwanese dramas throughout the years! He was actually really good! Of course the song names were in Chinese so I have no clue what they were called but he was very good and it was so cool to get to see him in person! It was weird to see the superstar as compared to the aloof student in “It started with a Kiss” back in 2005. Amazing.
Then came AKB48. They are from Japan and they have that name because there are in fact 48 members in their group but they break the group down at times into groups “A” “K” and you guessed it, “B”. They were very fun to watch! It was like watching a bunch of anime characters in school uniforms dancing and singing an anime theme song. However, it was super super easy to see that they were lip syncing. Sad.
Next up was Kara (Korea)!! Kara sang their songs “Lupin” and “Mister”! I love love love their song “Lupin” so I was super excited to get to see it live! Overall they were very good! The only thing I can say is that I wish they had worn pants for the “Mister” dance because with skirts on it just made their butts look big.. I dunno, it just didn’t work right. However, overall very good!
Up next was Michael Wong from Malaysia. He was another ballad singer and I’m gong to be honest with you, I had to pee so badly by this point in the concert that I ran to restroom while he was on. So no pictures from Michael but I did hear him and his voice was very good, perfect for singing ballads.
After Michael was B2ST!!! Pronounced Beast, they are from Korea as well and were amazing! They opened with “Shock” and finished with Breathe. I have loved B2EST since they debuted! Their music is always pretty bad ass and their dancing is awesome! YAY!
After B2ST came… wait for it….RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, that’s right, I got to see RAIN!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have wanted to see Rain FOREVER! After all, he IS the superstar of Asia!
I have to say, I was a bit surprised. He was pretty soft spoken and almost shy in front of the crowd. BUT, that didn’t damper his performance! His microphone didn’t work for his first song, such a bummer, but it was still awesome! Oh Rain, the voice, the dancing, the hip thrusts!! YAY! Lol. So yes, I got to see Rain perform “Rainism” “Love Song” and “Hip Song”!!! I may never be the same person again!!!! Oh Rain, how I love you!
After Rain came BoA!
I have to say I was really disappointed with the crowd! After Rain they all started getting up and leaving!! WTH!!!! I mean really??? You’re going to walk out on probably the best performer here??? OMG!
So yes, we watched BoA perform between the lines of people leaving… But hey! She ROCKED! Their Loss!!! She started with “Copy and Paste” her newest single which she didn’t perform at the SM town concert, so I was really really excited to get to see it! Then she performed “Hurricane Venus” awesome as usual and last was what I believe was a remix of some of her older songs, but I can’t be sure. I can say it was something I hadn’t heard before!
Overall, the concert was amazing! It was such a treat to get to see not only several top performers from Korea but also from other Asian nations as well! I was really impressed with the special effects throughout the concert! Lots of fireworks, flames, smoke. You name it! Then, after the concert, there was even a fireworks show!
I can honestly say that I’ll never be able to go to a concert in America again. They just can’t compare with the dancing, singing, and even the special effects put on by Asian concert! Not to mention I LOVE the fan etiquette here compared to that in America. SO yes, last night was a total success! I mean, who could ask for more?? B2ST, Kara, 2AM, 4minute, Joe Cheng, BoA and Rain???????? Yes please! :-)
T&S
K.C.
